Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The First Family:
1. Some reviewers say Ellis's book offers little new about Abigail and John Adams. Was it new to you? Have you learned something you didn't know before? Or is it rehashing old ground...things you've already read about the couple and their role in history? If you've read other works on the Adamses, how does this book compare?
2. The marriage of John and Abigail Adams is one of the most famous in U.S. history. What is it that draws the two to one another? Talk about their relationship as Ellis portrays it. What makes it work? What are its weak points ... and its strengths? Who was the more independent ... and who the more dependent—either...or neither?
3. Does the Adams marriage offer any lessons to those of us in the 21st century? Can we learn from a marriage that occurred over 200 years ago when cultural expectations were very different? How would you compare their relationship to one another with your own relationship(s)?
4. What does Ellis mean by "the paradox of proximity"?
5. How supportive is Abigail of John's growing political involvement and ambitions? What does she reveal in letters to friends and relatives? What affect does John's choice of career have on her and on their marriage? Male or female, how would your partner's absences and political involvements affect you?
6. Talk about how Ellis presents John's famous temper and the possible reasons for it. How would you describe John Adams? Was he justified in his mistrust of his colleagues...or are his constant suspicions a sign of a deeper paranoia?
7. Describe Abigail Adams. Was she a feminist...or a forerunner of feminists? If so, why so...if not, why not?
8. What kind of parents are John and Abigail Adams? What about their clear favoritism of John Quincy?
9. The Jefferson-Adams friendship and enmity is long famous. Talk about that relationship, it's dissolution and the later reconciliation? What prompted the friendship...what dissolved it? How does this book affect your attitude toward Jefferson, a famously enigmatic figure?
10. Talk about the press in the early days of the nation—its reflection, even fueling, of a deep political divisiveness. Are there similarities to today's media coverage of politics? Or not.
11. In what way does Ellis take sides in the Adams-Hamilton debate. How does Hamilton come across in Ellis's portrayal of him?
12. Consider watching clips from the 2008 PBS John Adams mini-series, based on David McCullough's 2001 book, John Adams. The series stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. It's excellent! Make comparisons to Ellis's book.
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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